Five people have been arrested on suspicion of money laundering and possession of cannabis after a series of raids in Penyrheol, Nelson and Trethomas.
Around 40 officers from Gwent Police carried out seven early morning raids on Friday, April 20, targeting specific properties in the Penyrheol, Nelson and Trethomas areas.
As a result of the intelligence-led operation, between 40 and 50 cannabis plants were discovered and seized along with a “significant” amount of cash. Six vehicles were also seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Two men, aged 34 and 46, and a woman, age 27, from Penyrheol; a 29-year-old man from Nelson; and a 20-year-old man from Trethomas, were all arrested on suspicion of money laundering and possession with intent to supply class B drugs. They have since been released under investigation.
Sergeant Andy Elias said: “I hope the success of this operation serves as a reminder to those in the area who engage in this type of criminal activity that we are aware and we will take the necessary action.
“Illegal drug activity will not be tolerated on our streets and those involved in such criminality will face the consequences.
“I would ask local residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity in their neighbourhood to police by calling 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.”
What a waste of money, all this time and money spent on this operation, and the sentence one will get will be a caution.
Sergeant Elias said illegal activities will not be tolerated.???
I think its time that cannabis is legalised in this country. Its drug that has many health benefits, its a natrual drug that has been used over thousands of years to help medical conditions. In my opinion its the “other” activities around cannabis that causes the problems for example money laundering, slavery etc. I must admitted in my wild younger days i did try cannabis as did many of my generation. I know use CBD oil from holland and barrat to help my arthritis, which is brilliant in my opinion. The police have a hard job fighting this war om drugs so is it time we had a rethink? The taxes from it would bring in a good revenue. It would also enable our constables to tackle real crimes on our streets instead of asking for out side agencies help.
Cocaine is also a natural drug.
Read Peter Hitchens ‘the war on drugs’ to see that the police (under instruction) have stopped fighting the war on drugs some time ago.
Cannabis production is almost entirely dosmetic now, I’ve even heard reports that the Uk is an exporter.
Cannabis supply in Caerphilly is more likely to come from the Aber Valley than it is from Morocco. Times have changed.
This is correct, cannabis is widely produced throughout Wales. There are compelling arguments on both sides regarding the legalisation of currently unlawful drugs. I can fully understand that alcohol is a mind altering drug that is legal and taxed to the hilt whereas canibus is not. People, very reasonably, say why not make drugs legal and take the criminal gangs out of the equation?
The difference is that canabis is not what it used to be, it is far stronger and seems to lead to psychosis when once this was rare. In contrast alcoholic drink is generally less powerful than it was historically. Witness the young getting drunk on tiny little shots, bombs, etc that would have not troubled a Victorian worker who was used to drinking 7% beer and cider by the gallon.
I too read Peter Hitchen’s comments on drugs and he has identified a very worrying trend. That trend is that many of the serious crimes, including multiple murders, which are attributed to terrorists are actually commtted by people who use, or have used, drugs.
His assertions are not water tight I admit. Correlation is not causation but neither should the preponderance of evidence be ignored.
He also states that if we have alcohol, which is an addictive and mind altering drug, widely available on the market, why is that a reason to introduce another?
I’m not as personally adverse to cannabis use as I am to other drugs but complacency of its use does lower the bar of acceptability in the public domain and it is actually against the law.
I would suggest the police either police it more vigorously or not at all which would require a mandate in law and not simply ignoring it in many circumstances. (I don’t actually blame the actual police, how can you when there are none?)
Walk down one or two of the streets in Caerphilly town and your nose will lead you to who is growing (not just smoking) cannabis. This is ilegal.
Last year (or the year before, I forget) I walked 25 miles around the perimeter of Caerphilly and Senghenydd and found around 15 dumps of cannabis production waste alongside the mountain lanes. This year I’ve noticed 2 dumps in the lanes around town, which means either an increase in activity or the offenders are becoming more blazen or both. Either way the situation isn’t being dealt with on any serious scale.
£12-14 billion in foreign aid budget would put approximately 70,000 fully equipped police officers on the streets of Britain, which in isolation would not solve the the problem but would certainly start the process.
Facinating information on local canibus production Pete. I have noticed the prevalence of drugs of many kinds compared to years ago. In 1980 it was all weed or speed. Today I can overhear pub conversations on cocaine and ‘factory drugs’ like ‘Ees’ that did not exist then but are widely taken despite the occasional, well publicised, teenage death from indulging.
If you walk up the big hill from Pwlta through Pen yr Heol and keep on going you will see loads of dumped compost with slow release nutrient plant granules and the remainder of the stalks from cannabis plants.
From that point to the top of Nelson and onto Sneggy is rife with them.
Incidentally, I drove an old car to Nelson roundabout in order to park it up and sell it about 20 odd years ago. I walked back from Nelson to the other side of Pen yr heol and discovered 15 burnt out cars. I called the council and they told me they had already removed 2 that morning.
Different crimes for different times
Police must not ignore this illegal activity – the money made by laundering the money and the other criminal assets can be seized to fund the Police and put Bobbies back on the beat.
Whatever the arguments for / against cannabis use,we must not forget the misery caused to many individuals and their families by the drugs trade.
As Pete says,we must not forget that this is an illegal activity and therefore should not be ignored.
This is true, maybe certain ‘recreational’ drugs should be legal, perhaps under a doctor’s guidance as is now the case with prescription only drugs. Or perhaps just tax them as we do with tobacco and alohol. No doubt there will be an on-going debate about legalisation.
But, as you point out, these drugs are, at the moment, illegal. The trade is often run by individuals who commit other crimes and the buyers also sometimes commit crimes to raise money to feed their habit. This being the case the police should not ignore it. News stories of recent raids and convictions indicate that they are enforcing the law, at least locally.
Richard I agree with you – recent media releases show that local Police are proactively targetting those involved.
Apart from fines and seizing assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act we need custodial sentences for all involved in the supply chain – to serve as a deterrent to those who see it as an easy way of making money.